The latest Rangerover, a big house in a posh neighborhood, a big security detail you name it , things that come with being senior in Government, these are the things that one can only dream of.
But certainly not Kenya’s newest senior government official who is by the way entitled to.
He is the first senior government official to turn down these lavish things that come with his big post.
Dr Patrick Ngugi Njoroge, who took over as Central Bank of Kenya governor last week, will instead be housed in communal accommodation.
An estate where he and his fellow members of Opus Dei (Latin Work of God), an institution of the Catholic church live.
He says his faith does not allow him to live lavishly when he is a servant of the people.
The institution teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity.
Most of the members of the Opus Dei are lay people, with secular priests under a bishop.
Dr Njoroge, who has sent many Kenyans talking, is turning out to be a man of exemplary modesty.
He has also turned down an office-issued high end smart phone, a bevy of security guards and three cars.
Central Bank governors have at their disposal a Range Rover, Mercedes Benz and a VW Passat.
Kenya,is a country where appointment to public office is associated with opulence, demand for higher pay and motorcades. But Dr Njoroge’s decision to pass up a chance to live in a house on two acres located in the city’s most exclusive suburb is a rare one.
Dr Njoroge’s style brings to the Kenyan public service a rare quality of humility and an aversion to trappings of power and opulence.
In Kenya, the practice is that when you are appointed to high office, you demand big fuel-guzzling cars and expensive Turkish carpets.
What is the practice in your country? Do you have government officers whose agenda is the public first self later? Share your thoughts with us.
